Automatic air and steam coupling.



D. D. & G. HOWE.

AUTOMATIC AIR'AND STEAM COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28. I9I5.

1,18%,68Q. 1 Patented May 9, 1916.

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APPLICATION FILED JULY 28. 19l5. v 1 1 2 4 Patented May 9,1916. 4 sssssssssss 3.

D. D. & G. HOWE. AUTOMATIC AIR AND STEAM COUPL|NG.'

APPLICATION FILED 1ULY 28. ms.

1,182,684. Patented May-9,1916.

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, WITNESSES INVE/V T0513 r Esra.

DAN DUNBAR HOWE, OF NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, AND GEORGE HOWE, OF SPARBOWSPOINT, MARYLAND.

AUTOMATIC AIR AND STEAM COUPLING.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, DAN D. HowE and GEoneEHowE, citizens of the United States, and residents, respectively, ofNorfolk, in the county of Norfolk and State of Virginia, and of SparrowsPoint, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented anew and Improved Automatic Air and Steam Coupling, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to railway appli ances and has particularreference to automatic couplers for railway cars or the like and adaptedto make connection for the steam, brake air, and signal air pipescoincidentally with the coupling of the cars in the regular way.

lVhile various attempts have been made heretofore to provide means forthe auto matic connection of the pipes above referred to for passengerand freight cars, such devices have not come into general use mainlybecause of unsatisfactory conditions of various kinds, due to the dangerof leakage of air and steam or because of the difiiculty encountered incausing the head portions of the couplings to properly come togetherbecause of irregularities in the trafiic equipment or diflerences instructure between various cars.

Among the objects of the invention, there fore, is to provide aconstruction adapted either for freight or passenger trafiic, making itpossible and expedient for the air pipes of freight cars or all of thepipes of passenger cars to automatically connect in a simple, reliableand satisfactory manner.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will hereinafter bemore fully described and claimed and illustrated in the drawings forminga part of this specification in which like characters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which- Figure 1 isa plan view of a device adapted especially for passenger cars; Fig. 2 isa horizontal longitudinal section of the same, substantially on the line22 of Fig. 3: Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 4 is atransverse vertical section substantially on the line '-;L4- of Fig. 1;Fig. 5 is an end elevation of one of the coupling heads; Fig. 6 is ahorizontal longitudinal section of the same along the line 6-6 of Fig.3, one head. onlybeing shown; Fig. 7 is a Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented May g, 1%16.

Application filed July 28, 1915. Serial No. 42,392.

side elevation of the same; Fig. 8 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2 butrepresenting a freight equipment; Fig. 9 is a side elevation of one headof the same; Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the improvement attached tothe draw bar of a freight car and indicating the action thereof withrespect to the draw bar; and Fig. 11 is a front elevation of the anchormeans for the new coupler spring, the latter being in section on theline 1111 of Fig. 10.

The several parts of this device may be made of any suitable materials,and the relative sizes and proportions, as well as the general design ofthe mechanism, may be varied to a considerable extent without departingfrom the spirit of the invention hereinafter more fully described andclaimed.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive willbe described first with reference especially to passenger car equipmentin which a head 10 having provision for a steam pipe 11, a brake airpipe 12 and a signal air pipe 13, is designed to be carried by each endof a passenger car, the same being supported resiliently in position tobe engaged and interlocked with a similar head of the next adjacent car.The supporting means comprises a spring 14 which is connected in anysuitable manner at its inner end to the car as upon a hub 15 and at itsouter end it is connected to a hub 16 extending inwardly in longitudinalalinement with the center of the coupler as a whole. The hubs 15 and 16are preferably provided with spiral grooves 15 and 16 into which theends of the spring extend and whereby longitudinal displacement of thesame is prevented. A chain 17 or its equivalent is connected looselybetween said hubs and within the spring for the purpose of preventingtoo great separation between the head and the fixed hub 15 due either toaccident or the sticking together of the heads by friction or otherwise.The foregoing general description of one of the heads will be understoodas applicable to both since they are necessarily made duplicates of eachother so that any car equipped with this apparatus may readily connectwith any other car as oocasion may require.

The several pipes referred to may be connected to bosses 18 carried bythe heads and v allel horizontal planes through the head and terminatein a vertical face 22, the plane of which coincides with the centrallongitudinal axis of the entire coupling.

As will be observed especially from Figs.

'' 2 and 6, the ports 19, and 21 lead through the head and are formedmainly in what may be termed prong 23 having a tapered outer end orpoint 24 for cooperation with a corresponding opening or socket 25 ofthe other head. 7

Fig. 5 indicates an end view of the prong and said socket 25 and showsthe beveling of the point thereof in all directions. The outer wall 26of the prong lies in a vertical plane inclined to the vertical plane 22,providing for a taper of the prong toward its point. This necessitates acorresponding taper of the wall at 27 on the opposite side of the wallof the socket 25 to accommodate the wall 26 of the main head. Thesprings 14 not only carry the heads in position to automatically cometogether in the desired manner, but maintain a constant pressure of theheads toward each other and thereby serve to hold the prongs well seatedin their respective sockets with the result that the contacting walls 26and 27 will insure the longitudinal walls 22 in constant intimatecontact. No packing means in the nature of gaskets or the like,therefore, are required to maintain substantial steam and air tightconnection even though the contacting parts may wear in practice. Thevertical surfaces 22 will always maintain tight contact.

The tapered end or point 24 of each prong is sure to be guided into itsplace by reason of the outward flare of the opposite prong point and theside wall 28 and the upper and lower flaring lips 29 bounding theinclined wall 27 of the gathering part of the head indicated as a wholeat 30.

The air pipes preferably enter the head on the opposite side of thevertical plane of the face 22 from the point where the steam pipeenters, but the invention is not to be unnecessarily limited in thisregard.

In each head is fitted a rotary cutoff valve 31 movable in substantially90 degrees around the vertical aXis automatically and coincidentallywith the coupling of the cars. Said valve is provided at its upper endwith a pinion 32 with which a rack 33 cooperates. The rack is guided forlongitudinal reciprocations in a casing or guide 34 shown as attached tothe upper part of the head.

The outer end of the rack is provided with a head 33 which is struck bya lug 35 by'the approaching head whereby the rack is forced rearwardlyagainst the force of a spring 36 housed within the casing 34 and at suchtime the pinion and valve plug are rotated as above described. Thespring 36 is strong enough to cause the reverse rotation of the valveplug when the coupling heads separate, causing the valve plug to closeall of the ports 19, 20 and 21, the valve plug having correspondingports 19, 20 and 21 respectively. This insures that when the couplingheads separate due to the uncoupling of the cars, the steam and brakeand signal air will be prevented from escaping, and when the cars arebeing coupled, the action of the racks and pinions will cause the valvesto open automaticallyand positively, establishing free communicationthrough the ports above described.

Fig. 8 shows a preferred form of the invention in which the heads 108are each provided with but one port 19 for the passage of brake air. Asindicated in Fig.9, this port may be elliptical vertically if desired.The general form of the prongs 23 and gathering means 30 aresubstantially the same as that already described in connection with thepassenger equipment. Fig. 9 serves also to indicate the nature of thereinforcing or strengthening ribs 37 formed in parallel horizontalplanes along the outer face of each of the gathering means. Theseprovide suflicient strength with a minimum mass or weight of materialand thereby increasing the efficiency of the springs 14 cooperating withthe hubs 16 as already described.

Figs. 10 and'll indicate a spring 14 anchored to a base plate 40 carriedby a sleeve 41 slidable vertically along a polygonal portion 42 of ashank or standard 43 secured at its upper end to the draw bar 44. Thelower end of the standard 43 has a brace 45 extending upwardly andrearwardly to another portion of the draw bar where it is rigidlysecured at 46. The main draw bar spring 47 is much heavier and strongerthan the spring 14, but the latter is so designed that the coupling head30 is carried normally about two inches beyond the main coupling 48 whenthe cars are disconnected as indicated by the lines a and a on Fig. 10.In other words, when the fluid couplers connect while the cars arecoming together, the

springs 14 will be contracted about two inches and will be so maintainedwhile the ordinary knuckles 48 are operative, and thereafter all partsof the coupling are operated together against the force of the springs47. A spring 49 is connected at 50 and 51 to the two heads.

Claims:

1. The herein described coupler comprising, in combination, a main drawbar, a coupling head carried thereby, a rigid standard secured to thedraw bar and projecting downwardly therefrom, a sleeve slidably mountedupon the lower end of the standard, a brace extending from the lower endof the standard rearwardly to the rear portion of the draw bar andserving to limit the downward movement of the sleeve, an auxiliarycoupling head below the main head, flexible supporting means between themain head and the auxiliary head serving to hold the auxiliary headelevated, cushioning means between the sleeve and the auxiliary headpermitting the auxiliary head to move rearwardly independently of themain head, and a flexible member extending within the cushioning meansbetween the sleeve and the auxiliary head to limit the forward movementof the auxiliary head.

2. In an automatic coupler of the character set forth, the combinationwith a main support and a rigid standard secured thereto and projectingvertically downwardly therefrom, of a coupling head, a sleeve slidablyfitted upon the lower end of the standard, a coiled cushioning springhaving one end anchored rigidly to said sleeve and the other end securedto the head, said spring serving to maintain the head in couplingposition and permitting the head to move in action toward the sleeve,and a chain extending along the axis of the spring, one end of the chainbeing secured to the sleeve and the other end to the head and serving tolimit the movement of the head away from the sleeve.

3. In an automatic air and steam coupler, the combination of a pair ofcooperating duplicate heads, each head having a plurality of ports forthe conveyance of fluids for different purposes and adapted to registerwith the corresponding ports of the other head when the heads arecoupled, a single rotary valve for each head movable around a verticalaxis and serving to open or close all of the ports of such headsimultaneously, a pinion secured to the upper end of the valve, a springoperated rack movable forwardly automatically to close the valve whenthe heads are uncoupled, and means carried by the opposite head bearingpositively upon said rack to cause the valve to open all of the ports ofits head when the heads are coupled together, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

DAN DUNBAR HOVE.

WVitnesses:

J. F. BENTON, JNo. M. BALDWIN.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEO. HOWE.

\Vitnesses:

VVILLIAM M. SHEETENHELM, R. F. HozIER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Eatenta. Washington. D. 0."

